Facebook Minecraft and Oculus Rift

Now that Facebook has purchased the Virtual Reality (VR) platform Oculus Rift, it has people talking about what is in store and how the popular social media site might look like in the future. Speculation runs in many directions and talk of 3-D shopping is one of the most popular. Imagine seeing an ad on Facebook and by clicking on the picture, it prompts the user to put on the Oculus Rift head gear. By just a wave of a hand the experience could mean seeing the product in its full 3-D glory, virtually trying it on, so to speak. There are a number of people not happy about the social media giants acquisition of Oculus Rift. One of the biggest is the Minecraft developer, Notch who has pulled out of talks with the virtual reality giant because ‘Facebook creeps me out’ he tweeted. Notch is very outspoken on this subject and adamant in his views, and being one of virtual reality’s biggest backers from the beginning, this is a big disappoint to a lot of gamers.

The guys from Oculus Rift and Mark and his guys from Facebook met, and found that each company had similar ideas of innovation and integration of virtual reality, and its ability to change how we learn and communicate. Each company has their strengths, and with this acquisition they can each work on what they do best. The Oculus Rift team will be able to work on creating more VR games, sans the popular Minecraft, and Facebook can reach the audience that will use them. They plan on taking gaming to the next level and now they have the funding to make that a reality in what they project will be a mere 10 years.

Unfortunately a lot of the die hard Oculus fans are not happy and believe that these guys sold them out for the almighty dollar. The hard core gamer’s that have supported this quest from the beginning with their loyalty and in many cases their money feel betrayed. Still other fans believe that this will open the door to better and more innovative virtual reality games. Rumor has it there could be even more cases of game developers pulling out due to Facebook buying Oculus Rift, just like the Minecraft giant. Notch states he is in the business of gaming and not social media. Notch also believes that social media is not a stable environment, and he wants nothing to do with it. Other backers of Oculus are fully on board saying this is what the virtual reality giant needed now that Sony is throwing their hat in the VR ring. Virtual Reality is well known in the gaming community but needed a platform to get more exposure. When something is good for the company, should it not also be good for the developers and the end users? In any case, Facebook and Oculus Rift are a reality and those that are truly invested in either social media or gaming are gambling on a bright future for both.